Sunday, February 19, 2012

The majority of ovens here have 2 knobs. One is for the temperature (which is measured in Celsius) the other is the "type" of heat you need. Most American ovens (unless they are super ultra modern) don't have these settings. For those locals who are confused a quick google search should produce some results. This link is to a British explanation for these settings. It doesn't cover all of the settings that we have but, I thought this would help: German Oven Settings

Our family is huge fans of frozen pizza. (Mainly because we are natoriously cheap and don't want to pay to eat out or get delivery) Apparently, the Germans are too because frozen pizzas take up about 2 rows of freezer space at the market. They even have tuna pizza......for some of the readers this might sound nasty but it's good. I swear! The pizzas that are sold are smaller than the average American frozen pizza but they run 2-3 Euro ($2.50-$4.00) per box depending on what brand it is. The majority of German frozen pizzas that I've tried have been great. The crust is crispy and thin. For folks who love to have frozen pizza at home, it's a must to explore the "off post" options. There is actually a setting on the German oven that theoretically will let us cook several pizzas at a time. We haven't tried this yet but I think next pizza night, we may experiment.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Yesterday, the Bofrost man paid me a visit... again. I actually like what they are selling, but they always seem to come at the wrong time. I thanked him but told him that I would have to sit down and translate everything and make my list and he'd have to come back next time for an order. He dropped off their new spring catalog so that should be of help to me.

Bofrost is similar to the American company Schwans. They are a frozen foods delivery service. I used them for Christmas when Mike's parents came to visit and although they are a little more expensive than going to the grocery store, their stuff is pretty good and it's delivered, which in the painfully cold weather can be nice.

This afternoon, I decided to be more proactive and translate some things in the catalog. My family is craving fish something fierce, so this is where I started. I found out that this will be helpful to have when I'm out in town as well; and also thought it might be helpful to the other English speaking types in the neighborhood:

Lachsfilet- Salmon Most fishy folks can spot this one but I thought I'd include it. If your wondering if it's smoked or regular I believe in German it would say "Geräucherter Lachs"

Pangasiusfilet- Pangasius Fillet. This is a type of shark/catfish. Also called, Vietnamese River Cobbler, Basa Fish and White Catfish, Tra, Gray Sole (The information I received on the net about this fish was not very good. I advise researching before buying)

PS: Click on the name to see a picture of what the fish looks like.

I tried to research health regulations in Germany regarding food but came up with a blank. If anyone has more information on this, please send me a link or type it below. I'd love to be better informed.

I do know that if you see a little blue fish label on the package it means Certified Sustainable Fisheries. The fish is farmed but apparently under environmentally responsible farms. I'd very much like to know if there is a label for "wild caught".

For folks who don't know, there is a green "bio" label on anything that is organic. This is the EU or German label for organic food.